Bertha Mason in Charlote Bronte´s Novel: Jane Eyre

637 Words2 Pages

Everyone has secrets and in the novel Jane Eyre by, Charlotte Bronte we see how a hidden past disrupts the very future of Jane’s life. Mr. Rochester has made his fair share of mistakes in his life and one of them being keeping a dark past locked and caged up. He literally did have his past subdued in a prison like manor because he kept his wife Bertha Mason locked on the third floor of the Thornfield household. We are introduced to Bertha Mason when Mr. Rochester goes on to tell Jane of his past. Mr. Rochester’s father didn’t want to divide his property and wealth so he left the entire estate to his other son Rowland. Mr. Rochester’s father sent him to Jamaica was he would be expected to marry Bertha Mason. To inherit a large fortune of 30,000 pounds Mr. Rochester would wed Bertha a lovely Creole woman who was notorious for her beauty in her hometown. Mr. Rochester would take all the necessary steps of courting her. Wasn’t long before he professed his love for her, they got engaged and married each soon after. They lived together in Jamaica for a time before Mr. Rochester would slowly see her true nature. The descendents of the Mason family had suffered from cases of mental diseases which were past down to future generations. Bertha’s mother herself was afflicted with the same mental disabilities and was eventually put into an insane asylum were she would remain. Bertha inherited the bad gens herself, but she doesn’t show the reader her true side until she sprung into one of her moods and caught an episode. Mr. Rochester soon finds out the family had known cases of this tragic behavior and as time goes on and he soon acquires Thornfield as his own and moves back to his home. Bertha at his side but not for long, she is put on the t... ... middle of paper ... ... her. Jane hasn’t gotten a true break yet were she can sit back and just enjoy life. Bertha was one of the causes of her disappointments like she has experienced in the past because he basically ruined Jane’s wedding to Mr. Rochester. How one woman could single handedly alter the lives of multiple people is very interesting and we see how Charlotte Bronte uses Bertha Mason as a vessel of relapse for Jane. Before Jane can break free once more and take her own course she had to be devastated once more and by Bertha who not only had 95% cause to ruining Jane’s wedding but also burning Thornfield to the ground. Mr. Rochester past, which he kept with him unto his present, manages to spring forth and wreck havoc as it’s done in the past and the hidden secret of Bertha Mason impacts Jane’s life significantly to the point where it changes order of events to come in her life.

Open Document